Homeless children's 'Pictures of Hope' made into greeting cards

December 6, 2012|By Kate Santich

When you give a camera to a child living in a homeless shelter and tell him to capture his hopes and dreams, you don't get images of motorcycles or computer games. You get pictures of modest little houses and people holding hands and a tranquil spot to rest under a big tree.

And the child will write such things as: "I hope for my mom not to die" and "I hope to become better than the people who look down on me."

At least, this is what celebrity photojournalist Linda Solomon has found in working with homeless kids from Oregon to Michigan to Florida, and lots of places in between.

In September, Solomon came to Orlando, one of a dozen cities chosen for her "Pictures of Hope" program this year. At the Coalition for the Homeless, she led a tutorial in photography for 15 young students, ages 6 to 12. Then she sent them out with disposable cameras to capture the images that spoke to their heart's desire.

The images would be turned into greeting cards that are now being sold online to raise funds for the local charity.

The budding photojournalists took pictures of a bountiful produce aisle in a grocery store, an empty tire swing, a swan by a lake, a house. They were simple, ordinary scenes. And somehow that made them all the more poignant.

"Their hopes and dreams captured in quiet moments tell a story that few adults can imagine," Solomon says. "When you show children that you care about what they wish for in life, perhaps a child who never felt he or she had self worth, now will."

In late November, David Maus Chevrolet in Sanford -- which helped to fund the project -- hosted an unveiling of the photos and a Meet The Young Artist reception. The kids dressed in their finest clothes and, for what was likely the first time in their young lives, they were treated like the most important people in the room.

It's sometimes easy to forget that childhood doesn't stop just because a family loses an anchor. Kids still learn to walk and talk, to dust themselves off, to love and trust -- or not. They learn whether they matter.

Valerie, 12, learned something this fall about compassion and gratitude. Her image was a girl reaching up over her head, making the outline of a heart with her hands against the backdrop of Lake Eola. "I hope to thank the people," she wrote, "and bless them for doing this."

Note: You can order the cards online, $20 for a box of 15 individual designs with envelopes. For an additional $3, the cards will be shipped to your address, or you can pick up your order at the coalition's main campus, 639 W. Central Blvd. in Orlando.